Hardcore Bridgepoint Heroes brave rain to clean up Mission Beach

bridgepoint-heroes-cleanup-credit-ALLER-BEAUCHAMP

Photo credit Allen Beauchamp

I don’t know what you define as “hardcore,” but I think showing up for an outdoor volunteer event during a rare San Diego downpour fits the bill. The team from Bridgepoint Education did just that for a beach cleanup on Oct. 30 in Mission Beach. They showed their enthusiasm for working together and helping their community when participating in the inaugural volunteer event of the Bridgepoint Heroes program. I couldn’t believe so many people braved the weather to show their support for their coworkers, company and ocean–they’re a great team!

Although it rained, it was actually perfect timing to get trash that had washed up onshore after the infamous “first flush,” the first rain event of the season that transports pollutants, litter and debris downstream from our urban neighborhoods. These eager volunteers collected over 2,472 cigarette butts, 780 pieces of plastic, 480 pieces of (wet) paper, 280 plastic food wrappers and 245 plastic lids, cups and straws (Collecting data in the rain = HARDCORE!). In total, over 115 volunteers collected 370 pounds of trash and plastic pollution from the sidewalks, alleyways, beaches, and parking lots around Belmont Park. They even found some unusual items including a boat ladder, a bra, a tiki torch can and a toy sword (from Halloween revelers, perhaps?).

The volunteers were well rewarded for their efforts. While the hot coffee station was an extremely popular spot in the chilly weather, volunteers also received an extra layer to keep warm (a Bridgepoint Heroes t-shirt), and they even got some Belmont Park roller coaster passes that were leftover from Coastal Cleanup Day (Riding a roller coaster in the rain = HARDCORE!).

Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI), is a provider of postsecondary education services focused on providing higher access to higher education. This cleanup was part of San Diego Coastkeeper’s sponsored cleanup program. Coastkeeper is proud to have partnered with Bridgepoint and hopes to continue working with other companies like them to bring their employees to an outdoor volunteer opportunity, which helps the San Diego environment. (Giving back to your community = HARDCORE!)